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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to John's gospel, John chapter 18. John chapter 18, as we sang at 
the outset of worship, Psalm 82, God demands justice and righteousness 
in earthly human civil courts. And that's everything that Jesus 
did not get before the Sanhedrin and before Pontius Pilate. So 
we're in that section now concerning Christ before Pilate. I'll read 
verses 28 to 40, and then our focus will be on verses 39 and 
40. So beginning in John 18 at verse 28. Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas 
to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves 
did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, 
that they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out to them 
and said, what accusation do you bring against this man? They 
answered and said to him, if he were not an evildoer, we would 
not have delivered him up to you. Then Pilate said to them, 
you take him and judge him according to your law. Therefore, the Jews 
said to him, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death, 
that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spoke, 
signifying by what death he would die. Then Pilate entered the 
praetorium again, called Jesus and said to him, are you the 
king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, are you speaking 
for yourself about this or did others tell you this concerning 
me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief 
priests have delivered you to me. What have you done? Jesus 
answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were 
of this world, my servants would fight so that I should not be 
delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from 
here. Pilate therefore said to him, Are you a king then? Jesus 
answered, You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I 
was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that 
I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the 
truth hears my voice. Pilate said to him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he 
went out again to the Jews and said to them, I find no fault 
in him at all, but you have a custom that I should release someone 
to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release 
to you the King of the Jews? Then they all cried again saying, 
not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for 
what the incarnate word did for us men and for our salvation. 
We thank you for that which he faced with reference to the Sanhedrin 
and with reference to Pontius Pilate, but ultimately to that 
delivering over by the Father, the one who was pleased to bruise 
him, putting him to grief. We thank you for the gospel of 
our salvation. Pray that you would cause us 
to reflect upon the Savior and all that he went through for 
us in our salvation. and may we worship, and may we 
praise, and may we love, and may we honor, and may we live 
in light of the truth of the cross. Forgive us for all of 
our sins. We pray for your blessing upon 
Pastor Porter as he preaches in Surrey today. May you bless 
the saints there and encourage them. Be with Pastor Mike as 
he's off for a time. We just commend him to you and 
to the word of your grace. Pray for our sister church there, 
that they would continue to know your blessing and your nearness 
as their good. And we pray this through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, just to remind us 
of the particular timeline in terms of the passion and the 
various things that occurred in the life and ministry of our 
Lord Jesus, there is first a preliminary hearing where Jesus stands before 
Annas, and that's recorded here in John 18, specifically at verses 
12 to 14. And then he is sent by Annas 
to Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin proper, And that takes place in Matthew's 
gospel along with Mark and Luke. And then this trial before Pontius 
Pilate. And as we saw last time, Pilate 
questions the jurisdiction and then sends Jesus over to Herod. 
Herod basically mocks him and sends him back to Pontius Pilate. 
so then Jesus now is back before Pilate here in our particular 
passage. And I know this is a brief passage, 
it's a brief section, verses 39 to 40, so I want to look first 
at the custom involved in verse 39, secondly the response in 
verse 40, and then some amplification, and to that we'll turn to Matthew 
27, verses 15 to 26, just so we can sort of see what Christ 
went through on behalf of us in terms of His standing before 
these courts in order to ultimately be delivered up for crucifixion. 
But notice in John 18 at verse 39, Pilate has seen, Pilate knows, 
Pilate is convinced that Jesus is guiltless. He is innocent. He has not even had a charge 
presented against him. In fact, if you look back in 
chapter 18, Pilate asks for the accusation according to verse 
29, and they answered and said to him, if he were not an evildoer, 
we would not have delivered him up to you. Imagine if all court 
cases were that easy. Imagine if you could just assume 
the guilt of the party you're alleging guilt upon. Imagine 
if you had to offer no evidence, you had to have no witnesses, 
you had to have no testimony, no rules, no nothing. You could 
just say, well, if he wasn't guilty, we wouldn't have brought 
him to you. So Pilate has tested, Pilate has examined, Pilate has 
asked questions, and he has come to this realization, according 
to verse 38, that there is no fault in him. And he says as 
much, I find no fault in him at all. So what Pilate appeals 
to now is an attempt to basically assuage his own conscience and 
to try to get this free man let off. He knows he's innocent and 
Pilate understands that it's a great travesty for him to proceed 
in a capital case to ultimately execute somebody who's innocent. So Pilate does what Pilate does 
and he tries to make it such that he can release Jesus in 
this particular situation. He probably would have thought 
or probably thought that the people would obviously ask for 
Jesus to be released to them because Barabbas was a wretch. 
Barabbas was a threat to the empire. Barabbas was an insurrectionist. Barabbas was a terrorist or a 
revolutionary. Barabbas was a bad dude. And 
so Pilate makes this offer in light of this custom that took 
place at the time of the Passover, probably in the hopes that they 
would ask for Jesus and he could finally be gone of this situation 
and not have to execute an innocent man. Notice when Pilate says 
what Pilate says in verse 39, do you therefore want me to release 
to you the King of the Jews? King of the Jews there is probably 
a taunt at the Jews. It's probably a joke. That's 
why they brought him up. That's why they delivered him 
over to Pilate. Pilate's examined him. Pilate's 
investigated him. Pilate has found no threat to 
either Pilate or to the emperor or to the Roman state. And so 
Pilate is saying, do you want me to release the King of the 
Jews? Again, probably hoping they're gonna say, Yes, of course, 
but that's not what they say. That brings us then to their 
response in verse 40. Notice, then they all cried again 
saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. Now in John 18, 40, we see here 
that he's referred to as a robber. And this word is a bit broad. 
It can mean robber, highway man, or bandit. But it also has another 
meaning, and this is probably more akin to what is true with 
reference to Barabbas. It is a revolutionary and insurrectionist, 
a guerrilla, a terrorist, a man that is a bad dude. In Mark 15 at verse seven, it 
says, they had committed murder in the rebellion, those who would 
be crucified along with Jesus Christ. Notice, they had committed 
murder in the rebellion. So their crime wasn't robbery, 
which is bad. I'm not suggesting that it's 
okay to rob people, but that's not ultimately why they're on 
trial or why they have been sentenced to die at the hands of the Roman 
state. They had committed murder in 
the rebellion. And in Luke 23, 19, it says, 
who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made 
in the city and for murder. Again, just trying to sketch 
this out for us so that we understand what are the options? Jesus, 
the holy, harmless, undefiled one, or Barabbas, who was a leader 
of two men along with him that were guilty of murder and insurrection 
in the very city that they found themselves in. In fact, Mark 
15, 7, as I read, said they had committed murder in the rebellion. 
And in Matthew 27, 38, Jesus is crucified between two robbers. These were friends, these were 
associates, these were companions. These were right and left hand 
men to Barabbas. He was the worst of the lot, 
and yet he was surrounded by these men. Davies and Allison 
say Pilate had already made ready crosses before he passed judgment 
upon Jesus. And that after the amnesty, Jesus 
was nailed to a cross originally intended for Barabbas. That's 
the scene, that's the situation. You want me to release for you 
the king of the Jews? Nope. They cry out, release to 
us Barabbas, a man guilty of murder, a man guilty of insurrection, 
a man guilty of rebellion and revolution. Again, it would be 
akin to us wanting a terrorist released from Gitmo instead of 
a holy, harmless, undefiled man that had been unjustly imprisoned 
there. Now, notice the particular emblem 
involved. I hinted at this last week. They 
all cried again saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now, Barabbas 
was a robber. So what do we see in this transaction? 
We see the just taking the place of the unjust. We see the righteous 
taking the place of the unrighteous. Again, the argument is not that 
Barabbas is in heaven. Barabbas could be in heaven. 
God's grace is such that even insurrectionists, terrorists, 
murderers, rebels can make it to heaven by grace through faith 
in Jesus Christ. The argument is that it's emblematic 
of Christ, the holy, harmless, undefiled one, stepping into 
the place of the unholy, the harmful, and the completely and 
thoroughly defiled. It is an emblem of substitutionary 
atonement. It is a picture, a representation, 
a symbol of the entirety of the glory of the gospel. God made 
Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become 
the righteousness of God in Him. It's the Passover sacrifice that 
Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 5. It's the Passover sacrifice 
that we see there in Exodus chapter 12. God says, splash the blood 
on the lintel of the house, and when the angel of the Lord passes 
over, he will not destroy the occupants. Why? Because there's 
substitutionary blood. because someone else died. This 
goes back to Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah. The Lord will 
provide. And when the angel of the Lord 
stays the hand of Abraham from burying it into Isaac, we see 
that ram caught in the thicket. We see substitutionary curse 
bearing all throughout scripture. The Levitical priesthood was 
all about that. The Aaronic priesthood, when 
Aaron in Numbers chapter 17 intervenes and stops the very wrath and 
fury of God most high. All of redemptive history is 
moving to this particular spot, and now we see it fleshed out 
in the life of Jesus. The just standing for the unjust. The righteous taking the punishment 
due the unrighteous. The holy taking what the unholy 
deserve. for us men and for our salvation. Here's a longish quote from John 
Gill who mentions this emblem. He says, who was an emblem of 
God's elect in a state of nature, talking about Barabbas. Again, 
argument is not that Barabbas necessarily went to heaven, but 
what is being represented in this particular scene. Who was 
an emblem of God's elect in a state of nature, released and set free 
when Christ was condemned. These as he, many of them at 
least are notorious sinners, the chief of sinners, Robbers 
and murderers, who have robbed God of His glory and destroyed 
themselves, are prisoners, concluded in sin and unbelief, and shut 
up in the law and in a pit wherein is no water, in their natural 
state, and were as this man worthy of death, and by nature children 
of wrath, and yet children of God by adopting grace, as His 
name Bar-Abba signifies the Son of the Father. These, though 
such criminals, and so deserving of punishment, were let go free 
when Christ was taken. Christ was condemned and died, 
and which was according to the wise and secret counsel of Jehovah, 
and is a large discovery of divine grace. It is a large discovery 
of divine grace when you get this motif, the just for the 
unjust, the holy for the unholy, the righteous for the unrighteous, 
the glorious truth of substitutionary curse bearing on the part of 
the Savior for his people to save them from their sins. He 
goes on, and what lays those who are released under the greatest 
obligations to live to him who suffered for them in their room 
instead? It's beautiful, it's a glorious 
emblem, and it's certainly representative of the entirety of the gospel. 
See, the believer is not going to heaven because he's good. 
The believer is going to go to heaven because he confesses the 
one who is good. He believes on him who lived 
a life of perfect obedience to God's holy law, who died as a 
sacrifice and a substitute on that cross, and who was raised 
again the third day. The cross isn't just an emotional 
story. It's not just an example for 
us on how we ought to love people. The cross is vicarious. That 
means substitutionary curse-bearing on the part of the Son of Man 
for all those whom the Father had given Him. We're going to 
heaven not because of our goodness, not because of our righteousness, 
not because of our death on the cross, but because of what Christ 
Jesus has accomplished. And the good news is, is that 
if you're an unbeliever here this morning, that means by God's 
grace, you too can go to heaven. You can believe on this Lord 
Jesus. You can know the benefits of being found in him, not having 
your own righteousness, which is from the law, but that righteousness, 
which is from God through faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord. I 
quoted earlier, 2 Corinthians 5. Think about what it says. 
God the Father made him, God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the 
righteousness of God in him. It's a glorious exchange, as 
Luther put it. Our sin is heaped upon the Savior, 
and God's wrath punishes him. His righteousness is heaped upon 
the sinner, and we are clothed now and able to enter into his 
presence. In fact, let me quote Luther 
with reference to this great exchange in a way that may sound 
a little bit harsh, but if you've ever read Martin Luther, you'll 
know that's exactly how he delivered biblical truth. He speaks concerning 
the joyous exchange this way, the rich, noble, pious bridegroom 
Christ takes this poor, despised, wicked little whore in marriage, 
redeems her of all evil and adorns her with all his goods. That's 
the emblem. Give us Barabbas, the just for 
the unjust, the righteous for the unrighteous, the holy for 
the unholy. This is what's happening in terms 
of Christ before Pontius Pilate, having been delivered up by the 
Sanhedrin. Now let's amplify by going back 
to Matthew chapter 27. Because we've already seen the 
complicitness, the wickedness of the Sanhedrin. We have seen 
the wickedness of Pontius Pilate. We will see as well the wickedness 
of the multitudes, the multitudes who at one time owned Jesus, 
or confessed Jesus, or at least were impressed by Jesus and were 
pro-Jesus, but have been turned against him in such a way that 
they're not only pro-Barabbas here, but they're definitively 
anti-Jesus. Lots happen in the space of a 
few short days. Remember the triumphal entry? 
It wasn't a year ago from this vantage point, it was a few days 
ago. And in that trial entry, when Jesus comes into Jerusalem, 
what happens? The crowds, the multitudes, they're 
extolling him, they're hosanna-ing him. Blessed is he who comes 
in the name of the Lord. Well, what's happened in the 
space of a few short days? Jesus didn't go out and murder 
anyone. Jesus didn't go out and commit insurrection or rebellion. 
Jesus wasn't an armed revolutionary who had shown himself a threat 
to their nation and state. None of that happened. What happened? The persuasive power of the Sanhedrin, 
the persuasive power of a godless tyrant named Pilate, at least 
in this particular case, prevailed upon them so that a man that 
is confessed to be innocent, a man who had no charges or accusations 
leveled against him, A man who had no evidence presented, no 
testimony heard, no witnesses cited. Nevertheless, at the end 
of this week, they go from Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the 
name of the Lord, to away with him, away with him, crucify him. I think it's helpful for us to 
kind of enter in to what Matthew amplifies here in Matthew chapter 
27. So we'll see five things that are going on in, I'm sorry, 
six things going on. I won't give you all the heads. 
We'll just see them as we move. But note, with reference to Matthew 
27, the spot that corresponds to where we're at in John 18. 
is Matthew 27, 15 to 26. Matthew 27, 15 to 26. The first 
thing we ought to observe is the motivation of the religious 
leaders. The motivation of the religious leaders. Envy, I'm 
sorry, envy is their problem, and Pilate understood this. Notice in Matthew 27 at verse 
15, now at the feast, the governor was accustomed to releasing to 
the multitude one prisoner whom they wished. And at that time 
they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. Therefore, when 
they had gathered together, I'm sorry, let's see here. Oh yeah, 
yeah, I'm sorry. Therefore, verse 17, when they 
had gathered together, Pilate said to them, whom do you want 
me to release to you, Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ? 
For he knew that they had handed him over because of envy. The 
governor knew this. And brethren, this only exacerbates 
the governor's guilt. Imagine doing your job this poorly. Do you ever find yourself musing 
on that? You see the actions of certain 
people in society and you're like, how do they keep their 
jobs? How do you possibly keep your job when you're that bad 
at it? It's dumbfounding. Pilate knows 
that the reason why these religious leaders have delivered up Jesus 
isn't because Jesus is an insurrectionist. It isn't because he asserts himself 
a king and he's gonna take out the emperor. No, it's because 
they are envious. They're envious toward Jesus. The Sanhedrin condemned Jesus 
for blasphemy, according to Matthew 26, 65, and 66. The religious 
leaders emphasized the royal aspect of his messiahship to 
pose him as a threat to the emperor. That was what they do in Luke 
23. He calls himself a king, he forbids the paying of taxes, 
and he stirs everybody up from Galilee to Judea. We can't have 
this man over us. Again, Pilate's not going to 
execute him because of blasphemy in their religious debate. He 
is going to execute him if he does pose a threat to the civil 
state, to the Roman emperor. So the religious leaders use 
this as leverage to manipulate Pilate to condemn Jesus to death. 
We're gonna see that in John 19 as we continue in the narrative 
in verses 12 and 15. Nobody's a friend of Caesar. 
You're no friend of Caesar if you allow this man to continue 
on. So it's envy that motivates these 
men. It's pretty pathetic, isn't it? Think about that 10th commandment, 
do not covet. I think at times we as God's 
people just, you know, yeah, it's important, but we all covet, 
so, you know, that's how it goes. Yeah, but covetousness is at 
the heart of so many other sins. Why do people engage in murder? 
Why do people engage in adultery? Why do people engage in theft? 
Why do people engage in lying? Well, there's usually a reason, 
because they want something they don't have. These men want something 
that they're not having. And again, I think Davies and 
Allison hit the nail on the head. The real motive for handing Jesus 
over is here uncovered, not offense at blasphemy. Notice that they 
don't say he's a blasphemer, he's threatened the temple, he's 
a bad guy, you better take him out at the knees. Not offense 
at blasphemy, but desire for power over the populace. The leaders of Jerusalem were, 
so Matthew implies, threatened when significant numbers gave 
heed to Jesus instead of them. Matthew 21, verse 15, Matthew 
21, verses 33 to 41. He says, or they say, their envy 
came from thirst for power. Garden variety, unchecked, wretched 
rebellion. We want to be in the spotlight 
and not him. So Pilate sniffs this out. Pilate's bright enough to figure 
out what's happening here. Again, he may be a coward. He may be a capitulator. He may 
be a worm in a thousand different ways, but he is not an idiot. He knows what's happening. That 
brings us back to Matthew 27 to secondly, the warning by Pilate's 
wife. Notice in verse 19, while he 
was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, 
Have nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered 
many things today in a dream because of him. A Gentile woman, 
the wife of a Roman governor? is able to know and see via dream. And dreams have been a vehicle 
of revelation in the book of Matthew up to this point. That's 
not odd. It's not untoward. It's how God 
reveals truth. And in this instance, he reveals 
truth to a Gentile woman. that this man is not to be messed 
with. If you can read between the lines, 
have nothing to do with him, have nothing to do with that 
just man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream 
because of him. Listen to Calvin on this declaration 
of his righteousness and innocence. He says, God the Father took 
many methods of attesting the innocence of Christ, that it 
might evidently appear that he suffered death in the room of 
others, that is in our room. got Pilate, got Pilate's wife, 
the absence of any charges from the Sanhedrin, the lack or ability 
for them to answer, as we'll see in a few moments, when Pilate 
says to the crowd, why, what evil has he done? They don't 
have a list that they can propound. They don't have a list that they 
can give. They don't have anything that they can answer. Everybody 
in this sees that he's innocent. Everybody in this sees that he's 
not guilty. Now, the reason that I draw this 
out, again, is because I think it's helpful for us to see what 
the Savior went through on our behalf. Guilt, grace, gratitude. 
Our gratitude to God ought to be at a high ebb when we consider 
what Christ did on behalf of His people. The gravity, this 
underscores as well, the gravity of the guilt of the religious 
leaders. R.T. France mentions, The intervention 
of Pilate's wife serves only to deepen the guilt of the Jewish 
leaders. Even a Gentile woman can see that Jesus is innocent. 
The highest court ecclesiastically and politically in the Jewish 
nation, and they can't see it or won't see it. They're driven 
by their envy, by their covetousness, by their hearts. to just completely 
not even pay attention to the evidence of the facts of the 
case, just deliver him up. If he weren't a wrongdoer, we 
wouldn't have brought him here. Okay, how does that work? And now notice 
thirdly, the demand of the multitudes in verses 20 to 22. Again, the 
multitudes we see that receive him favorably in the triumphal 
entry, they're persuaded by the religious leaders. Brethren, 
I think this is a potential and a danger that we all need to 
be on the lookout for, to the word and to the testimony. If 
they don't jive with God's law, if they don't jive with God's 
gospel, we don't pay attention to them. And in a case like this, 
a capital case, where in their own law demanded two or three 
witnesses for a capital case, Deuteronomy 17, Deuteronomy 19, 
they at least express some consciousness of that when they come to Pilate, 
we don't have the authority to kill him, we need you to sign 
off. We need to be careful that we're not persuaded or led astray. 
This morning, we appealed to a text in Matthew chapter 16, 
when Jesus says, leave them alone. Leave them alone. Both are blind 
and both will fall into a pit. You know, those men that lead 
people into a pit are guilty. But the people being led into 
the pit are guilty too. You're not supposed to follow 
dummies who lead you into a pit. And in this instance, we've got 
this, the persuasion by the religious leaders. Notice in verse 20, 
but the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that 
they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. Look at the 
language. The crowd had once supported 
Jesus. In fact, the religious leaders 
feared the crowd because the crowd had once supported Jesus. The religious leaders now persuade 
the crowd to destroy Jesus. Now I know that Matthew doesn't 
specify and neither does Mark or Luke, but how'd that conversation 
go? How do you persuade a multitude 
to kill an innocent man? Even Pilate's struggling here. Pilate's saying, I find no guilt 
in him. You've got a custom. Let me release 
the king of the Jews and we'll get rid of Barabbas and his two 
cronies. How did this go? How does a group, 
a multitude, a people that a few days ago were saying, blessed 
is he who comes in the name of the Lord, how do they now get 
to the point where they're easily provoked to destroy an innocent 
man? This is kind of scary if you 
stop and parse it out and you think through it. The intention 
of their wicked hearts has come to fruition. And Knox Chamberlain 
makes a very valuable observation here. He says, during the interval 
in which this Gentile woman, Pilate's wife, seeks to influence 
her Gentile husband, the Jewish leaders act to persuade the Jewish 
crowd. You see the contrast? Pilate's 
wife is saying, have nothing to do with this just man. And 
in juxtaposition with that, you've got the religious leaders, the 
scribes, the Pharisees, appealing to the people, the multitude 
saying, we need to destroy this man. No evidence, no charges, 
no accusation, no witness testimony. This was the greatest crime in 
the history of the world. If you or I were found falsely 
charged for having committed robbery at Envision Credit Union 
last Monday, and we were innocent, we could be, but we're guilty 
of something, you can't say that of Jesus. There's no guilt. He's 
wholly harmless and undefiled. Now notice the demand of the 
multitudes in verses 21 and 22. The governor answered and said 
to them, which of the two do you want me to release to you? 
They said, Barabbas. Pilate said to them, what then 
shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ? They all said 
to him, let him be crucified. This is probably going in a direction 
that Pilate wasn't bargaining for. Surely I offer them their 
king of the Jews. It's a joke. It's a taunt. Not 
a threat to me. Not a threat to the state. Not 
a threat to the emperor. Of course they'll ask for him. They're not really going to want 
Barabbas. What do they do? They double down. The persuasive 
power of the unbelieving Sanhedrin got to the minds of these people 
such that now they want to destroy Jesus. They want to destroy the 
only, holy, harmless, and undefiled man that ever lived. And they 
want Barabbas to go free. They want Barabbas to be able 
to go to the lake that afternoon. They want Barabbas to be able 
to return to baby Barabbas or Mrs. Barabbas if there happen 
to be those at home. They ask that the violent revolutionary 
be released. Spurgeon says, the Lord of glory 
had been sold by Jews for the price of a slave. And now a robber, 
a murderer, and a leader in sedition is a greater favorite with the 
people than the prince of life. So then notice Pilate intervenes. Pilate intervenes in verse 23, 
which again, exacerbates his treachery. It's cowardice, it's 
gutlessness. But this should have been done. We shouldn't be here. And I think 
Pilate probably knows that. Again, Pilate's not a moron. 
He knows the deep water that he's in at this point. So verse 
23, then the governor said, this brings us to the cross-examination 
by Pilate. Why? What evil has he done? But 
they cried out all the more saying, let him be crucified. The question 
is necessary on the part of Pilate to confirm a capital case. Up 
to this point, there's been no accusation leveled. I mean, they've 
said, yeah, he thinks he's a king. Yeah, he has forbid paying taxes, 
but they don't formalize that in any trial. They don't formalize 
that in any witness presentation or evidence. They don't do any 
of that. So Pilate's question makes sense. 
Why? What evil has he done? You want 
to destroy him? You want him, now notice, notice 
what they say. Let him be crucified. Not, you know, stoned or taken 
out back and shot. Not hanged. I'm not saying those 
are all necessarily preferable ways to die, but they are preferable 
ways to die than crucifixion. Crucifixion was ghoulish. It 
was ghastly. It was horrific. If you were 
a Roman citizen, you wouldn't be crucified unless there was 
special permission from the emperor. Why? Because it was so vicious 
as a punishment that if you were a citizen, that was part of your 
citizenship. You wouldn't get crucified. Again, 
unless you were especially notorious like Barabbas. But with Jesus, 
that's where they go first. Not jail, exile, banishment. throw them outside Jerusalem, 
they go right for crucifixion. If you're not sort of in your 
heart at this point saying, what a blessed Savior. Can I encourage 
you? That's what you should be saying. 
What a blessed Savior. He did this for us. How many of us would do this? 
None. How many of us would go through 
this? None. How many of us would put 
up with this tragic travesty of a court case? I mean, we watch 
something and we see it and we're screaming at the computer because 
of the travesty. They wanna crucify him. So Pilate's 
question, legit, spot on, absolutely necessary. The question is indicative 
of the conflict that Pilate is undergoing. Why? What evil has 
he done? Davies and Allison again, because 
he has heard his wife's dream, because he knows that Jesus had 
been handed over out of envy, and because he has interviewed 
Jesus and found no proof of wrongdoing, Pilate knows that Jesus is not 
deserving of death. This is why he asks the crowd, 
why? What evil has he done? The query 
is Pilate's feeble attempt to alter sentiment. Is there his 
last ditch attempts to try to sideline or side rail this tragic 
injustice that's about to occur on his watch? Then, the question 
indicates that the allegations provided by the religious leaders 
obviously had not been successfully answered, right? Pilate has to 
ask why, what evil has he done? Because when he asks formally 
for an accusation, they don't give one. They said, if he wasn't 
an evildoer, we wouldn't brought him here. So now they're crying 
away with him, crucify him. So Pilate's question is perfectly 
legitimate. What has he done? You know, this 
isn't some third world banana republic here. We're just not 
in the custom of, you know, willy-nilly crucifying people that have not 
been successfully charged and found guilty. Again, gutless, 
horrible coward in Pontius Pilate. But man, he's in a rock and a 
hard place. You've thought you've had some 
difficult straights from one time or another. He's about to 
execute the only innocent man that's ever lived. And in his 
heart of hearts, he knows it. He knows it. Gotta be a tough 
place. Matthew Henry says, it is much 
for the honor of the Lord Jesus that though he suffered as an 
evildoer, yet neither his judge nor his prosecutors could find 
that he had done any evil. That brings us then to the self-absolution 
of Pilate. This is an interesting turn in 
the narrative. The self-absolution of Pilate, 
He can't absolve Jesus. He's tried. What accusation do 
you bring? He examined Jesus. Are you a king then? He now asks 
the mob, what's he done? He can't absolve Jesus. So what's the next best thing 
as far as Pontius Pilate is concerned? It's to absolve himself. He knows 
that a travesty is occurring. He knows that this is a severe 
injustice. He knows that this is abject 
wickedness, not because he subscribes to the 10 commandments, not because 
he reads the Pentateuch on a daily basis, but because in the world 
of men, everybody knows it's wrong to just murder somebody 
because you don't like them. God made us that way to know 
that it's wrong to murder people because we don't like them. You 
know, Western jurisprudence is founded upon those principles, 
and here the Roman Empire practiced law pretty consistently and well. He knows this is a mess. He knows 
this is a wreck. So what does he do? Verse 24. 
When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all in the absolution 
of Jesus, in the release of Jesus, in the turning of the tides, 
so that they say, crucify Barabbas and let Jesus go home, let Jesus 
go free. When Pilate saw that he could 
not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising. They 
want blood. They wanna destroy him. Away 
with him, crucify him. They're getting agitated. Pilate's 
drawing this out. Let's get to this. But rather 
than a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands 
before the multitude saying, I am innocent of the blood of 
this just person. You see to it. Now the background 
is biblical. Deuteronomy 21, Psalms 26 and 
73, this washing of the hands to signify purity. Carson suspects 
that Pilate knew their customs and he's doing that, he's using 
this, he's invoking that image to make the point with these 
people. My hands are clean, he says. As well, the declaration, I am 
innocent to the blood of this just person. He can't get this 
just person free, but he can try to get himself free. That's 
what Pilate's doing here. The words demonstrate his design, 
like every politician before him and every politician after 
him. When the bus goes off the cliff 
and explodes, the politician says, it wasn't on my watch. It was Herod. That's why Pilate 
had sent him to Herod. It wasn't on my watch that that 
bridge collapsed. It wasn't because of me that 
that tragedy injustice or that tragic injustice, it wasn't me. He's not concerned at this point 
about Jesus innocent and Jesus release. He sees where this is 
going and he sees the only possibility for him is to declare his own 
innocence and to try to extricate himself from what is a most difficult 
situation. He wants to pass the buck. He 
wants to pass the responsibility. He tried to give it to Herod, 
it didn't work. He's tried to turn it on to Barabbas, 
doesn't work. He's tried to exonerate the Lord 
Jesus, he sees that he can't prevail. So the next best thing 
is, well, it's not me ultimately that's at fault in all of this. 
The words further demonstrate the innocence of our Lord. Don't 
neglect that. The gospel authors don't want 
you to forget that what is happening here is that the just is for 
the unjust, the holy for the unholy, the righteous for the 
unrighteous. I find no guilt in this man at 
all. Luke 23, three times Pilate confesses 
that. In our passage in John 18 and 
19, three times he confesses that. I find no guilt in him 
at all. So notice, I am innocent of the 
blood of this just person. You see to it. you see to it. He's passing the buck. But you 
see he can't because he's the governor and he's got to sign 
off on this. But this you see to it is that 
big passing of the buck. I'm not going to do this. Spurgeon 
says, ah, pilot, you need something stronger than water to wash the 
blood of that just person off your hands. You cannot rid yourself 
of responsibility by that farce. He who has power to prevent a 
wrong is guilty of the act if he permits others to do it, even 
though he does not actually commit it himself. Spurgeon's right. 
This little ceremony, this little charade, this little act on the 
part of Pilate to exonerate himself, nice tri-champ, but it doesn't 
work. He delivered him over to the 
Jews to be crucified. Notice the responsibility of 
the people in verse 25. They heard Pilate say this. It's a pretty dramatic scene. 
I, you know, the interchange, the gravity of the situation. That's why I don't ever get when 
people say the Bible is boring. You're obviously not reading 
it, or you're not reading it properly. How can you not read 
this and see just not the glory to be sure. The, The depths of humanity, the heights 
of grace, the beauty of Christ. It's not a boring book. So notice, 
the responsibility of the people. They hear all this from Pontius 
Pilate. And in verse 25, And all the 
people answered and said, His blood be on us and on our children. Then he released Barabbas to 
them, and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be 
crucified. That's what I meant according 
to verse 26. Pilate is not exonerated. It's 
Pilate's ultimate call. The little ceremony, the pleading 
of his wife, all those things are compelling. All those things 
probably haunted him. My brother the other day reminded 
me of a sermon that I preached many years ago from, I think, 
the Gospel of Matthew, and I invoked or quoted Brother Rolf Barnard. 
If you don't know who Brother Rolf Barnard is, he was a preacher 
in America. I think he was a chaplain in 
the Second World War, and he was a fiery preacher. If you've 
ever heard Al Martin, you'd probably think, man, he yells a lot. He's 
a beginner compared to Brother Barnard. But Brother Barnard 
had a sermon on Luke 16, the rich man and Lazarus. The rich 
man goes to hell. Lazarus is in Abraham's bosom. 
Now, I think there's a couple of ways to interpret that little 
narrative, but the point that I wanna bring out is what Brother 
Barnard points out. In 1625, it says, son, remember. Son, remember, the man in hell 
The worst part of hell, or one of the worst parts of hell, is 
that he has his memory with him. Son, remember that in your life 
you had this, that, and the other. Son, remember that you had this 
particular privilege. And then Brother Barnard starts 
going through redemptive history. Those people knocking on the 
ark, trying to get into the ark when the floodwaters are rising 
up. Throughout their history or their 
future history in hell, they'll think about that. They'll remember 
that, knocking fiendishly on that ark, trying to get in. He 
mentions Pontius Pilate's wife, never forgetting that dream and 
never forgetting her trying to prevail upon her husband. And 
he mentions Pontius Pilate. Basically, Brother Barnard takes 
you through a tour of hell, and Abraham's pointing out the various 
persons there, with all their responses, knocking, knocking, 
knocking. Who's that, Brother Abraham? Well, that's those who 
try to get in the yard. Who's that, Brother Abraham? 
Well, that's Pilate's wife, living with that reality. And then he 
sees somebody and he's like, get it off, get it off, get it 
off, get it off. Who's that brother Abraham? Oh, that's Pontius Pilate 
trying to wash his hands of the very blood of Jesus Christ. It's 
a very powerful sermon. It's a very powerful concept. 
Imagine going into hell without a memory. I'm sure it wouldn't 
be pleasant, but it's that memory. It's that, son, remember every 
sermon you heard that you didn't believe, every time your mother 
prayed for you, every time your father pointed you to Jesus, 
every time your husband or your wife tried to prevail upon you 
with the Christian gospel. It'd be better to not remember 
those things, I would think, if I was in hell. Remembering 
every opportunity, every church service, every church service 
missed, every prayer meeting missed, every opportunity to 
come to the Savior that was made. It's a very powerful image. Brother 
Barnard, citing Brother Abraham, points us to this particular 
narrative. You notice, Verse 25, and all 
the people answered and said, is blood be on us and on our 
children. I don't think it's primarily 
an impractication, and I don't think it's primarily a self-maledictory 
oath, but that's precisely what it becomes. That is precisely 
what it becomes. It's an ownership of responsibility. 
Let his blood be upon us and our children. What are they doing? Do you want to do that? I don't. 
If I'm going to make that kind of an ownership of responsibility, 
I'd like some evidence. I'd like witness testimony. I'd like some cross-examination. They're gone at this point. They 
have been turned anti-Jesus with a vengeance. They go from, blessed 
is he who comes in the name of the Lord, to his blood be upon 
us and our children. It's a terrifying scene. The 
words are utilized in many places with reference to blood guiltiness, 
in the Pentateuch, in the former prophets, in the prophets, and 
even in the book of Acts. the inclusion of our children 
likely shows how willing they are to own their responsibility. If they are owning this, they're 
including their children in the ownership of it, they must really 
believe that it's valid to do. And I would suggest that this 
would in fact be visited upon them in the destruction of their 
city in AD 70. Let his blood be upon us and 
our children. That happens precisely in AD 
70. In fact, Gil says, wrath came 
upon them to the uttermost. That seems to have 1 Thessalonians 
2, 14 to 16 in mind. Wrath came upon them to the uttermost 
in the entire destruction of their nation, city, and temple. 
Spurgeon says, this fearful imprecation must have been remembered by 
many when the soldiers of Titus spared neither age nor sex, and 
the Jewish capital became the veritable Akkadema, the field 
of blood. And I believe, this is my Baptist 
conviction, that when Simon Peter stands up to preach in Acts chapter 
2 on that day of Pentecost, and he says, the promise is for you 
and your children. It's not a Paedo-Baptist text. It's a God's grace text. You 
invoked His wrath. May His blood be upon us and 
our children. The very Christ you crucified, 
God has raised up. And you and your children, by 
looking to Him in faith, will receive everlasting life. That's the glory of Acts 2. Peter 
is preaching to Jerusalem's sinners, the very people that wanted to 
destroy Jesus, the very people that did destroy Jesus. That's 
why Peter says what Peter says, that the promise is for you, 
your children, and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord 
our God shall call. That's the emphasis. It's on 
grace. It's on mercy. It's on the power 
and efficacy of the very blood of Christ. That one whom they 
crucified is the means by which they have reconciliation with 
God. So when we see this particular 
event, it illustrates, I think practically for us, two things. First, the depravity of man, 
and secondly, the glory of Christ. We've seen the religious leaders, 
we've seen Pontius Pilate, we see the multitudes now. They're 
not scot-free, brethren. If a blind man leads a blind 
man, they both fall into a ditch. They just got caught up in it. 
Why is he bad? He's just bad. That's never good 
enough. Why is he bad? He's just bad. 
Take our word for it. What evil has he done? Just all 
the more they cry out, crucify him. He's just bad because he's 
bad is not an accusation or a charge that should stand. So we see 
they want a murderer, rebel, released. Peter invokes this 
in Acts 3, which is a temple sermon, Solomon's porch connected 
to the temple. He says, but you denied the Holy 
One and the just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you 
and killed the prince of life whom God raised from the dead 
of which we are witnesses. They want a murderous rebel released. 
You're in a bad place as a multitude if you want a murderous rebel 
released. They allow themselves to be persuaded 
by murderous religious leaders to commit a moral atrocity. You're 
not supposed to go along with moral atrocities. I don't know that this needs 
to be taught, or we should have Sunday school on this, but you 
don't side and become complicit with a murderous mob. That's 
just never a good thing. They unhesitatingly request crucifixion 
for Jesus without any charges leveled or any conviction made. 
In fact, quite to the contrary, they've got Pilate saying, I 
find no guilt, I find no guilt, I find no guilt. They got Pilate 
trying to compromise and say, let me give you Jesus and we'll 
put Barabbas on the cross. None of that plays any thought 
in their heads. They vehemently cry out all the 
more for the crucifixion of Jesus. This led J.C. Ryle to make this 
observation. I think he's right. Let us never 
be surprised at the wickedness there is in the world. He's gonna 
continue, but I think that's a good reminder. Let us never 
be surprised at the wickedness there is in the world. Let us 
mourn over it and labor to make it less, but let us never be 
surprised at its extent. There is nothing which the heart 
of man is not capable of conceiving or the hand of man doing. It's 
a sad and pathetic commentary that's absolutely positively 
correct in light of man's depravity. It's a sin-cursed world. And 
in a sin-cursed world, the Sanhedrin, Pontius Pilate, and the multitudes, 
without any conviction, without any accusation, without any evidence, 
without any witness testimony, crucify the Lord of glory. So in terms of the glory of Christ, 
we see his innocence proclaimed by everybody, even by the multitudes, 
when Pilate says, what evil has he done? They don't answer. They 
can't specify. Certainly, there's gotta be something. 
Nope, nothing. Just, all the more, they cry, 
let him be crucified. As well, the work of Christ, 
his innocence, his fitness to function as covenant mediator, 
but then his work, his performance, his doing, the just for the unjust, 
the righteous for the unrighteous, the holy for the unholy. Calvin 
says, the Supreme and sole judge of the world is placed at the 
bar of an earthly judge, is condemned to crucifixion as a malefactor. 
And what is more is placed between two robbers as if he had been 
the Prince of robbers. A spectacle so revolting might 
at first greatly disturb the senses of men were it not met 
by the argument that the punishment which had been due to us was 
laid on Christ. So that our guilt having now 
been removed, We do not hesitate to come into the presence of 
the heavenly judge. So based on what Jesus does before 
the Sanhedrin, before Pontius Pilate, and subject to this multitude, 
is our salvation. So he was delivered up by those 
parties. But we know, and we're reminded 
by the prophet Isaiah, And we are reminded by the Apostle Paul 
that it was ultimately the Father that delivered him up. Isaiah 
53.10, Yahweh was pleased to bruise him. Romans 8.32, for 
if God did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for 
us all, how shall he not also freely give us all things? Or 
2 Corinthians 5.21, God made him who knew no sin to be sin 
for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. 
So it's by that act of deliverance, it's by that first cause, if 
you were here in the last hour, that these second causes then 
take place, and Sanhedrin and Pilate and multitudes deliver 
him up to be crucified, which, in God's grace and in his timing, 
we'll look at in the coming weeks. Well, if you're not a believer, 
I can only say believe. You'll find that Jesus is all 
that the scriptures set him forth to be, altogether lovely and 
chief among 10,000. And as believers, let us love 
him, let us honor him, let us adore him, and let us stand in 
awe at what he went through for us and for our salvation. Well, let us pray.